A drum set typically consists of an assortment of individual percussion instruments such as a bass drum, various smaller snare drums, tom-toms, cymbals and a "high-hat" cymbal. These percussion instruments are generally operated by striking a surface of the instrument with a stick or mallet.
For example, a drum set may include both a bass drum and a high-hat, each of which is operated by a foot pedal which the user (performer) steps upon to strike (or operate) the respective instrument. For purposes of this discussion, striking an instrument includes operating a foot pedal to cause a percussion instrument to sound.
Recently, double foot pedals for the bass drum have become in vogue (de-rigueur for top performers). Two spaced-apart pedals allow the performer to execute more complex and rapid rhythms (e.g., bass drum "riffs"), using both feet (rather than only one foot). However, when using both feet on a double foot pedal for the bass drum, the performer must cease double-footed bass drumming (e.g., revert to single-footed bass drumming) in order to operate the high-hat foot pedal with one of his feet. As is evident, the performer is faced with the undesirable mutually exclusive choice of operating both instruments, each with a single foot, or of operating only the bass drum with both feet. Moreover, the transition from one foot pedal (e.g., for the bass drum) to another foot pedal (e.g., for the high-hat) is especially cumbersome transition for the performer to make while trying to perform.